Gentle Detox with Braised Burdock, Mushroom and Seaweed

September 10, 2015 – 11:27 am

Benefits of Burdock Root

Burdock Root is called ‘Gobo’ in Japanese and is often sold under this name. It’s cooked in a similar way to a carrot and looks a little like one too (except it’s brown on the outside and white on the inside). The taste of burdock is pleasant and a little earthy. In many parts of Asia, burdock is a normal everyday root vegetable that is seen as being very good for the health, especially for the liver and the skin.

Benefits of Seaweed

Seaweeds supply iodine to the thyroid and it help to protect against radioactive elements in the air, water, and food chain. Seaweed is also has high alginate content which can aid the body in detoxing heavy metals. It is important to get seaweed that is from clean ocean areas and not polluted waters. For this recipe, I like cooking with arame, hijiki, sea palm or wakame.

Braised Burdock, Mushroom and Seaweed Recipe:

3 cloves garlic

1 bunch sliced scallions or 1 cup other onions (leeks, shallots, etc)

2 carrots

1 inch fresh ginger (peeled and minced)

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

sesame oil (or olive oil)

1 piece of peeled and julienned burdock root (8 inches)

5-10 g seaweed

pepper and salt (or tamari) for seasoning

Soak seaweed for 15 minutes. If the pieces are big, you can cut them into strands with scissors. Wash burdock root in warm water. Peel and julienne into strips and add to the bowl of soaking seaweed. Sometimes I quickly put the julienned burdock into a bowl with a teaspoon of vinegar (to prevent the root from oxidizing/discoloring) until I’m ready to cook it. Mince garlic and let it sit for 5-15 minutes before sautéing (who knew?! but, exposing the cut garlic to the air a short time before cooking will increase it’s immune stimulating function). Chop onion into ½” pieces; carrots into cubes. Peel and mince the ginger.

Sautée the first 5 ingredients in oil until everything softens up a bit, 5-10 minutes. Add the soaked burdock and seaweed. Add a little water as needed (you can used the water from soaking the seaweed). Simmer and cover. At the end, add sea salt and fresh pepper to taste. Or try seasoning with tamari (comes in ‘gluten-free) instead of salt.

3 Comments

Peel and julienne into strips and add to the bowl. At times I quickly put the julienne burdock into a bowl with a teaspoon of vinegar to shield the root from oxidizing/recoloring until the point that the moment that I’m set up to cook it.